A Quaint Town
by Neo the Saiyan angel
Summary: The group stops in a quiet little town for supplies.


"Yay~" Ai leaned out the window and gleefully looked ahead of them, craning her neck to see farther than everyone else could. "A settlement! And…" her eyes sparkled "...it looks super big!"

"Good!" Julie sighed, patting the wheel of their car. "This thing is in need of an oil change and some gas. We can get supplies there."

Scar looked out as well as she held Celica. "We also need more food for the toddler."

"And ourselves!" Dee grumbled. Patting her belly, she complained, "We've had potato soup _three days_ in a row! Ugh!" She flopped back into her seat and closed her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder why I still hang out with you guys."

Ai whipped her head around, shock on her face. Then, tears filling her eyes, she mumbled, "But, but what about…?"

"Hm?" Dee opened one eye. Then she said, clearly trying to backpedal, "I didn't mean it like _that_! I'm just complaining! Of _course_ I'm gonna stick around." She scooted closer to Ai. Reaching out, she pinched one Ai's cheeks and said in a cheery voice, "How could I ever leave my adorable precious girlfriend? I mean, I've stuck around for _how_ long?"

"Owwwww," Ai moaned, slapping Dee's hand away to cradle her now-sore cheek. After a moment of thinking, she said, "Uhm, I think three years?"

"Yes! Three! Three whole years and I haven't left yet." She gave a hearty laugh. "You'll _never_ get rid of me."

Ai smiled. "Good. I'm glad—"

"They are all dead."

Everyone turned to look at Scar. She was staring intensely at the upcoming town, lips quirked in a frown. Celica fussed in her lap, but her focus was entirely ahead of her.

"Approximately two thousand, five hundred dead exist there," she elaborated. "There are no living people."

Julie sighed. "Another place like Ortus?"

"Beats me." Dee shrugged. "As long as they have some grub, they can be shapeshifting aliens or a cult or something for all I care!"

"We'll be fine!" Ai said with assurance. "Scar and I will just leave our shovels out of view! They won't know any better!"

"You...do realize that this one looks like an average Gravekeeper, yes?" Scar said dryly with a note of confusion.

"Don't worry about it!" The brunette cheered, "We'll fit right in!"

"..." The doubt was palpable. But Scar seemed to not want to argue, instead looking towards Julie and murmuring, "We need to be careful."

"I know." Julie slowed the car down as they entered the city. "Let's try to make it quick. Don't let anyone know you're living."

"Yawohl, herr kommandant," Dee said with a roll of her eyes.

"Eeeeeee!" Ai squealed, clenching her fists in excitement.

This was going to be a blast! She just _knew_ it!

—

_Ding_!

The bell above the door rang as the group all rustled into the store they had found on the outskirts of town. It seemed to be used to outsiders occasionally trickling in, and it didn't look like it was closed in. Perfect for a quick pit stop.

Scar pretty much demanded that Celica stay in the car with the doors locked. To the Gravekeeper's frustration, Ai had forgotten to roll up her window. It was too late to do it before they looked strange for it, so Scar begrudgingly accepted it.

Ai explored a little as Dee scanned the snack section and Julie went to talk with the shopkeeper, a gangly woman with half-gone blonde hair from what looked to be burns. Ai looked away as she realized some of what was there and shining was the bone of her skull. Her eyes looked for something, anything, to draw her interest away from the shopkeeper.

...What was _that_?

Ai skipped over to a display of what looked like little softcover books. The sign above it said 'magazines'. She curiously pulled a book out and looked through it. It was dated eighteen years before, but it held interesting articles on baking desserts!

Oh! Maybe she should get this for Julie? He was good at baking stuff.

"What is it like to be dead?"

Ai looked up from the magazine stand. Next to her was a man with a gaping, festering wound on his arm. She was pretty sure he hadn't been there before. His nose was half-rotted and his eyes were sunken into his sockets. Patches of skin across the visible parts of his body were missing, the muscle visible, while the rest of the rot was covered by loosely-fitting overalls and work boots. None of that could cover the stench that Ai was now acutely aware of.

He repeated in a rough, scratchy voice, "What is it like to be dead? At what point do you die?" His left hand scratched at the wound. "Little one...do you know what it is like to die?"

"I, ah…" Ai uncomfortably took a step away from him, looking around for help. Julie was nowhere to be seen, Scar was fully across the room, and Dee seemed preoccupied with whispering into the shopkeeper's ear with her none the wiser. Cautiously, nervously, Ai mumbled, "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers…"

He eyed her. "I don't think you do. You seem too fleshy to not be alive."

"Uhm…" She nervously bit at her lip.

He watched her for a moment. Then, in a fatherly tone, he said, "Do not worry; you'll know what it is like soon enough."

With that, he turned around and walked out of the shop, the little bell making a small 'ding' as the door swung open and shut.

Ai's stomach clenched at the words. They sounded threatening, even with the way he said it. She would know soon enough what it was like to die? It sounded...scary. And wrong.

Suddenly Ai didn't want to be in that town anymore.

Just then Julie came back in from outside. Loudly so all of them could hear, he said, "Alright! Got all gassed up. Where to next?"

"We needed the oil changed," Scar said, walking over to where he was standing.

"And food!" Dee had her arms full of a variety of snacks. She looked towards the shopkeeper and shouted, "Oy! Can I have these?"

The woman behind the counter seemed like she was mentally debating something. "It's strange...you _should_ pay for all that, but...but I feel like you need it more than I need the money." After a moment, she decided, "Go ahead and just take them. It's not like I'll starve or anything if I don't get the money for those."

"Sweet!" Dee cheered. She skipped towards the door, a bag of something crunchy falling from her grip and hitting the floor.

They all paused, confused, as a loud bell rang from outside. It resonated for several moments before going silent.

"Hm. That's strange…" Julie checked his watch. "It isn't on the hour."

The bell made the nervous, queasy feeling in Ai's stomach worse. It didn't sound like a good thing at all.

They needed to go. Now.

She scurried over to the other three and fearfully said, "We need to go."

Dee blinked. "Ai?" She peered closer at her girlfriend. "Are you okay? You're white as a ghost!"

"You folks said you needed an oil change, right?" They all turned towards the shopkeeper. In a friendly voice she said, "There's a mechanic a bit farther into town that could help you out. Real jiffy of a job. You'll be out of here in no time."

"I saw one a little ways back," Julie noted. "We don't really need to go farther into town."

"_Trust_ me, the one more into town is the one you want to go to," she cheerily said.

Julie smiled while Scar gave a more subtle grin. With a light chuckle, Julie said, "Who am I to argue with a local? Farther into town it is!"

Somehow the idea of them spending even one more second there was Bad. Going more into town was Worse.

Ai was going to say something, but found that everyone else was already making their way back to the car. Hurriedly she followed behind.

Ai held her tongue until all of them were situated in the car. Then she repeated more loudly, "We need to go."

"Yeah! Let's go!" Dee said, jumping up and down in her seat as she tore open a bag of something that smelled vaguely of onions. "Get that junk changed so we can head out."

"No!" Ai's eyes went round as she said, "We need to go _now_!" Shivering, she continued, "There's something _wrong_ here. I, I think it's a bad idea to go into town _or_ get an oil change here."

Scar murmured, "I sense nothing beyond the dead."

"What? Did that shopkeeper's rotting face scare you?" Dee asked curiously.

"It wasn't her…"

"Ai." Julie looked back at her. "Don't worry. Nothing's wrong. It's just a quick pit stop. Only a few more people to talk with and we'll be out of here."

Ai vigorously shook her head. "No! _Now_." She then grabbed her head. "Something bad is going to happen if we stay."

Julie and Dee laughed while Scar just looked cross. Celica was staring out the window, oblivious to everything.

"It will be _fine_, you silly goose!" Dee made like she was feeling the muscles in her arm. "With me around, you'll be fine."

Ai opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again. They weren't going to listen to her. Things seemed fine. Maybe they were right? It was just in her head.

As the car started driving farther into town, Ai sighed and hugged herself. It was...it was fine. Just in her head. Nothing bad would happen. They would get their oil changed and be gone before she knew it.

—

"It'll be probably a half-hour before I finish," the mechanic, a tall man with a side ponytail said. There was a bandana wrapped around part of his face, obscuring it from view, and a large set of strange-looking earmuffs hanging around his neck. "You should go explore the town! It's a peaceful place. Real nice folks."

"Celica and I will stay near the car," Scar said tersely. Ai could understand why; their shovels were still stashed away and hidden from view. It would also be a good getaway option if things went bad.

"I'll stay wherever Scar is," Julie said warmly.

Scar shook her head. "We still need food for Celica. Could you perhaps go to the grocers that I saw back a block and get some food for her?"

"Erm, I'm not sure they'll have any…" A chagrined smile crossed his face. "But for you and Celica? Anything."

As Julie turned to leave, Ai opened her mouth to urge him to stay. "Wa—"

She was viciously cut off as she found herself being dragged by her girlfriend. "C'mon! I swore I saw a school down the way!" She giggled mischievously. "We can push each other on the swing! Or, oh! Try and knock each other off of a merry-go-round!"

Ai tried to stop her. "But—"

"Don't be such a spoilsport!" Dee complained. "It won't hurt you to have a _little _bit of fun. Besides, what do you think'll happen? A bulldozer will drop on our heads or something?"

When she said it like that, Ai felt a little silly. Slightly more relaxed, Ai said, "Okay. Let's go see this 'merry-go-round'."

In practically no time flat, they found themselves on the edge of a playground. Structures of all kinds stood tall, maintenance on them very clear. Whoever took care of this clearly had some pride in it.

As Dee energetically dragged Ai towards a strange top-like thing, they both seemed to realize at the same time that they weren't alone. Hanging on another structure, this one with complicated ladders and slides of all kinds, were a variety of children. Ai nearly gaped in shock at the idea of there still being children about when she caught sight of a horrible neck wound on one of the children. Then she remembered what Scar had said.

Dead. All of them were deceased. Ai felt pity for the children that didn't have the opportunity to grow up. It wasn't right.

But that was life and death in this world without God.

"Hey!" One of the boys called to them. "Strangers! What are you up to?"

"We're gonna play on this stuff and you aren't gonna stop us!" Dee cried out as she hopped onto the top, dragging Ai up with her.

The children whispered amongst themselves before a couple of them broke off and made for what had to have been a school.

"Ai!" Dee smiled viciously as she said, a foot dangling against the ground, "You ready?"

Ai blinked. "For what?"

"Hang on!" Dee began pushing against the ground with her foot, propelling the structure they were on. Ai then took her girlfriend's warning seriously, grabbing in to one of the rounded metal bars that crisscrossed the top.

Faster and faster they spun. The scenery was a mere blur, melding together in colorful lines. Ai was getting dizzy. Beyond the dizziness was excitement. This was _crazy_! It was fun! How could Ai have never experienced this before?!

Ai laughed as Dee pulled her leg up and curled it around the bar she was gripping with her hands. Her girlfriend cheered, risking flying off to raise a hand into the air. Ai looked at her: purple hair flying in the wind, a cat-like grin on her face, the excitement in her eyes…

Beautiful. So beautiful.

Slowly and sadly they came to a stop. Ai could feel her cheeks were flushed. Dee looked just as excited, though slightly winded from pushing the 'merry-go-round'.

Dee chuckled and said, "Worth it, right? I'm chock full of good and fun ideas!"

Ai nodded and said, "Yes! It was—"

"Hey."

Both of them turned, confused, as they realized they were now surrounded by children. One that seemed to be their ringleader, a boy with dirty moppy hair and an arm missing, said, "Are you two hungry?"

Dee smirked. "As a matter of fact, I'm _starving_!"

The children all looked ecstatic. Two of them stepped forward and presented them with—

"Salads?" Dee tilted her head. "You think _rabbit food_ will fill us up?"

"It's tasty!" one of the children in the back complained.

Dee took the proffered dish and snatched up the fork the girl was presenting. Both of the living girls looked at the salads. A healthy mix of berries sat on top of a bed of lettuce. Shreds of carrots and some other kind of leafy vegetables were mixed in as well.

"I will admit, it _looks_ good…" Ai said carefully, confused at what was going on. Why were these random children suddenly offering them food? What in the world was going on?

Ai looked more closely at the salad. Then froze.

Dee stabbed a chunk of berries with her fork. "I guess I'll give it a sho—" She squawked as Ai snatched the fork from Dee's hand. Dee snapped, "Hey! What's the big idea?"

"Hemlock." Ai pointed at some of the berries on Dee's fork. "There's hemlock mixed in here."

"Whaaaaaat?" Dee tossed the bowl to the side and growled at the children around them, "Are you _trying_ to poison us?!"

To this the children looked confused. Hesitantly one asked, "Don't you want to be dead like us?"

The color drained from Ai's face. She quietly repeated, "Dead...like you?"

"Yeah!" A girl excitedly jumped up and down. "The grownups tell us about how we'll all go to heaven because we're dead like we're supposed to be! God will come for us. And we try to help others be dead so _they'll _go to heaven too!"

All the children gave agreeing nods.

Ai took a breath in, then out. This was fine. Scary, but solvable. She just had to connect with them and they would understand.

She began, "My name is Ai Astin. I'm half human, half Grave—"

Her words cut off, muffled, by a sudden hand over her mouth. Ai looked over to Dee, who was sweating and giving her weird nervous chuckles she got sometimes.

"Oh! Yeah! That! Uh, yeah. We're _totally_ going to die!" Dee then pointed into the distance, towards the auto shop. "We'll die over there. Alone. Away from you."

The gaggle of children cheered.

Dee began dragging Ai away, hand still over Ai's mouth. The purple-haired girl shouted behind her, "Anyway! Goodbye! See ya! Enjoy those salads!"

It wasn't until they were out of sight of the playground that Dee finally let Ai go. Ai couldn't help but rub her jaw as she complained, "What was _that_ for?!"

"Didn't you hear what they said? All the grownups want to kill the living!" Dee hissed. "This town is a death cult!"

Ai blinked. "But you said you didn't care if they were a cult?"

"Ugh!" She shook her head in reply. "I didn't _mean_ it! Especially when _they want to kill us_." Tightly gripping Ai's hand, she marched for the auto shop. "C'mon. We gotta get out of here as fast as we can!"

Frowning, Ai added, "I hope everyone is okay…"

—

"Yo!" Dee shouted as they walked into the auto shop. It was clear she was trying to get attention. All she got was a glare.

Scar sat on a little couch in the garage, Celica laying in her lap. The mechanic seemed to have moved on to another project. His earmuffs were secured over his ears, music blaring from somewhere near him loud enough to be heard even from where the two girls were standing. Still in the garage was the car, though it seemed to be complete.

Dee marched up to Scar, Ai trailing nervously behind her. She said, much more quietly, "We need to go! Now!"

"Julie is not back from getting the food," Scar noted. "The car is ready." She puckered her lips. "I am...worried. Julie should be back by now."

"This place is _messed up_," Dee growled with clenched teeth. She grabbed her head and shook it. "Gah! By now they've probably turned Julie into a shish-ka-person."

The Gravekeeper tensed up. "Julie is in danger?"

"We _all_ are!" Dee once again dragged Ai, this time to the car. "Let's go!"

"Not without Julie." Scar's voice was like steel. "Girls." She got up from the couch, carrying Celica in her arms. The door to the car squealed as Scar threw it open. She carefully set Celica onto the seat, buckling her in and adjusting things so the child was comfortable, then picked up her shovel. "Take care of Celica. I will find Julie."

"I—I can help!" Ai said quickly, reaching for her own shovel.

"No." Scar gave Ai a stern look. "You will only get in the way. It would be best for you to take a defensive position here."

"What about him?" Dee asked snarkily, thumbing at the oblivious mechanic.

"If he becomes hostile, you know what to do." With that, Scar turned and made her way down the street where Julie had gone.

"Well…" Dee rubbed her head. "This sucks!"

Ai looked at the mechanic. "Why do you think he isn't doing anything?"

"Beats me. Maybe he didn't get the secret memo that there were living in town?" her girlfriend suggested.

"Memo…" Something clicked. "The bell. _That's _how they heard we're alive." Ai pointed straight at the mechanic's strange earmuffs. "I bet he didn't hear us because of those things!"

"That's good at least. So we don't have to worry about him." Dee breathed a sigh of relief. "Now we just gotta hope no one spots us."

"The shopkeeper sent us here. She might let other people know we're here!" Ai said, stress eating at her voice.

"Hnnnnn…" Dee snarled, "Whose idea was it to stop here?!"

"I _said_ we should lea—" Ai cut herself off as she noticed someone approaching the shop. She quickly ducked down, dragging a surprised Dee with her. To her relief, Celica was positioned just out of sight of the windows.

Ai peeked her head up. A few people were standing next to the mechanic who was now chatting with them. He waved over at the couch, then did a double-take.

"I swear they were right there!" he cried. "I don't know where they went!"

His gaze grazed the car. Ai ducked her head out of sight, hoping she was fast enough to not be seen. A sigh of relief escaped her lips at his growl of frustration.

There was some quiet muttering.

"The situation sucks, but don't take it out on my music!" he whined loudly.

A few more inaudible words were exchanged. Then, to Ai's surprise, she heard footsteps that grew quieter with each step.

"Don't worry! I'll watch for if they come back!" the mechanic shouted after the apparently exiting group.

Ai swallowed.

"So we're trapped," Dee said quietly. "Perfect. Juuuuust great." She snorted as she looked in the back. "This, right here, is why we need more car games."

Ai took a nervous look out the window towards where Julie and Scar had gone. "Do you think they'll be okay?"

"I dunno. I _hope_ so. Julie _still_ hasn't gotten around to teaching me how to drive." She turned back to Ai. Her eyes went wide and she suddenly dove forward.

Ai was about to ask what was wrong when she felt a hand grab her roughly by the neck. It pulled her backwards through the window. Her hands grasped the seats, trying to keep herself in the car. She twisted her head, catching sight of the mechanic who now had her in his grip.

"Here you are!" He pulled harder. Ai's neck felt like it was going to break if he used any more force. "I—Hnk!"

The mechanic fell to the side as something hard met the side of his head with a sickening _crack_. He skidded for a moment before he started getting back up. His bandana had fallen, revealing his teeth through his cheek and a tongue that he had apparently just bitten in half as a piece fell out of the hole in his face. Part of his skull was now caved in as he glared past Ai.

Ai rubbed her neck as she looked at her savior.

Dee was standing next to the car, wielding Ai's shovel in her hands. The look on her face made Ai's heart flutter. The purple-haired girl snarled, "Don't. Touch. My. Girlfriend."

The man clearly tried to talk. All that came out were almost word-like sounds.

As he got up, Ai hopped out of the car through the window and took her shovel from Dee. Ai said, "Get the car going!"

Dee balked. "I don't know how to drive!"

"I believe in you!" Ai quickly kissed Dee's cheek. "You can do it."

Dee looked surprised, then gave one of her cat-like grins. "You're right. I got this!"

She rushed around the side of the car as the man finished struggling to his feet. He made more noises before lunging at Ai, fury clear on his face.

Ai stepped to the side as Scar had taught her and struck the back of his neck with the sharp edge of her shovel. A sharp snapping noise echoed throughout the garage as her shovel dig deep into his neck. He collapsed in a pile. No motion or noises beyond a sick gurgling came from him. Ai's stomach twisted as she confirmed she had managed to break and partially sever his spine.

It made her feel like an awful person. He would never be able to exist in any quality of life. ...But it was either him or the three of them.

The car bursting to life brought AI back from her thoughts.

"Hurry up!" Dee said, patting the front seat of the car. "Let's go find those two lovebirds!"

Ai nodded, trying to put what she just did behind her. She swiftly got into the car and turned to check on Celica. Somehow the child was still sleeping through everything.

Dee cheered as she messed with the stick and pressed against one of the pedals. "Alright! Time to move it!"

Several seconds passed with nothing happening.

"Ohhhh. That must be the brake." Dee's foot moves and pressed hard against the other pedal. "Le—AHH!"

The two girls screamed as they shot forward and out of the garage. Dee twisted the wheel this way and that, clearly trying to get a feel for things. They drove shakily down the street, roughly stopping and going.

"Okay…I think I got this!" They turned the corner to the grocery store. "Where do you suppose they ar—"

She was cut off by two bodies diving into the car. Ai tensed, shovel ready, when she realized she recognized them.

She relaxed as she exclaimed, "Julie! Scar!"

"Drive!" Julie commanded as he scrambled upright.

"Drive?" Ai asked.

"_Drive_!" Dee screamed as she stomped on the pedal. It wasn't until the scenery started blurring by that Ai realized there was a massive crowd rushing after them. They were becoming smaller and smaller as they drove away.

Ai breathed a sigh of relief.

Too soon.

She was immediately shaken as something—some_one_—slammed into the front of the car.

It was one of the children, the girl with the awful neck wound. She seemed to be trying to say something but was completely drowned out by the wind. Her hands pounded against the windshield as Ai noticed that the car seemed to have broken one of her legs.

Dee slammed on the brakes. The girl went flying ahead of them, tumbling into a rag doll pile. Then she floored it, driving clean over the girl.

This time Ai held her breath. Held it until they were out of the city limits. Completely out of eyesight of the city. Then, and only then, did she finally relax.

Dee stopped the car. Then, shakily, she hopped out.

"Oofta! Talk about an adrenaline rush!" Dee burst out. Looking at Julie, she thumbed at the driver's seat and said, "It's your turn to drive now, Old Man!"

Julie rolled his eyes. Ai noted that he looked to have been roughed up but was otherwise fine. Scar, on the other hand, was clearly hurt. Her face was swelling on the left side and her lip was busted wide open, blood dripping down in small streams. She was cradling her arm and had dropped her shovel against her. Celica had finally woken up and was fussing over Scar, tears welling in her eyes.

"Let's not ever do that again," Julie said as he got into the driver's seat.

"You know, if you guys had listened to me we would've been fine!" Ai huffed, her cheeks puffing in frustration.

"You're right," Dee said with a roll of her eyes. "We should've listened."

"What's done is done," Julie said. He looked back in concern. "Scar, are you okay?"

"...I will need medical attention," Scar reluctantly admitted.

"So, next town?" Dee asked with a smarmy smile.

"Looks like." Julie turned back to face the front and started driving. "Hopefully they'll have a doctor."

"And no cult," Ai added.

"Yes. And no cult," Julie agreed flatly.


End file.
